From NME :

“MUSE radiate passion and warmth like nobody else. It’s an aesthetic that has informed pop’s finest envelope pushers - from DAVID BOWIE and THE VELVET UNDERGROUND all the way to THE FLAMING LIPS and RADIOHEAD. Those wild-eyed visionaries who wanted, who needed to know what it’s like to - as BRIAN ENO once put it - “be otherwise”. And tonight, with a performance of such breathtaking, astonishing, heart swelling power, it’s hardly surprising audience members are wiping away the odd tear; MUSE suggest membership to such a hallowed fraternity is their birthright.”

Since I read the above, I have been looking forward to seeing this band live. Now I have :-

Muse at Newcastle University Students Union, 31.5.00

This is a great venue if you are more than 5’6” tall, otherwise you can’t see a thing! Although all the music papers said this gig was sold out, in fact the room wasn’t full, and tickets were available at the door. Couldn’t be a PR ploy I suppose? Would they be that cynical?...hehe

The audience were mostly students (natch) and I spotted Nine Inch Nails, The Offspring, Marylin Manson, Kurt Cobain and Slipknot t-shirts, at least three of which bands would only be appealing if you are under the age of 19. I was standing beside a very opinionated young man who was chatting up some girls, and telling them about his adventure into darkest Sunderland, last week, to see Asian Dub Foundation. The band were great apparently, but ‘Sunderland really is the grim North you know’ and ‘The place was absolute desolation’. Hmmm..being a native of that very city, I wasn’t exactly over the moon to hear this. Couldn’t necessarily argue, but did he have to point it out so baldly?

Bands today are much more polite than they used to be. The man at the door said Muse would be on at 9.30 pm, and by 9.40, there they were!

The audience were going berserk, before the band even hit the stage. Something I haven’t seen in this size venue for a long time (well since 1997..grin)

Matthew Bellamy wrong-footed every body by appearing at the mike on the far left of the stage. If you had positioned youself with a good view of the middle, you couldn’t actually see him..lol. Anyway, he was well worth a bit of jockeying for position. He looked a tiny bit like a smaller version of Brett Anderson, and oozed explosive star quality. Just a small guy, with a red shirt and spikey black hair.

The opening number was absolutely electric! Haven’t seen anyone with this amount of passion for a very very long time!

The set list included most of the album Showbiz, and the singles Cave, Uno, Muscle Museum and the ever so slightly hysterical Sunburn.

Most songs were fairly similar, in that they were balls out, on the edge, very nearly, but not quite, over the top stuff. There was one softer effort near the end of the set, which the girlies liked.

Some numbers had a heavy blues influence, shades of a very heavy, Hendrixey, Moby.

The music press have very often compared this band to Radiohead. Where does it say that just because someone rips out their insides and offers them to the audience on a plate, they have to be a Thom Yorke or Jeff Buckley clone? This guy is very much his own man. I didn’t see anyone actually weeping, as I had read in NME, but I could see how this might bring on the tears...

As the set continued, I suddenly thought, Oh gawd! He has got some kind of wierdo voice altering device, how gimmicky and naff! Then I looked closer,and realised that it really was his voice! Quite extraordinary gruff growling and high howling, not like a human voice at all!!

By now, I was also wondering who was playing that fedback, wawahed 60’s/90’s lead, and when I looked closer it was the same guy who was doin the weird howling! Erm..talent to burn in every department then.

In the last number, he went for some crowd surfing, with guitar and all. The audience loved it, and so did I actually, althought I was quite glad I didnt have to hold him up!

Then they were off, leaving an awed silence behind them. The kids pestered the roadies for set lists, which they handed out in some numbers, leading me to suspect that they had quite a lot of photocopies for just this purpose....oh ho!

A nice touch was that after a lot of people had drifted away, the band suddenly re-emerged from the dressing room and sprayed the devotees left with their celebratory champers! Everyone enjoyed this, the group and the audience alike!

To sum up, there is a huge, unique, raw talent here. The songs could have a little more structure, but that might be just my old fashioned ear. The third album has to propell them to stardom.

There is a large webcast of a recent gig at nme.com, click below

http://www.virtuetv.com/music/concerts/nmepremier/nmeshows/muse_56.ram

Catch them with db at Glasto this summer.

(erm..cough...I saw the webcast of Glasto since I wrote this, and of course, he DOES have a weirdo voice altering device....hehehehehehe....oh well, can't win em all........)

:))
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